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Paris confirms report on Greek sell-off fund and Le Pape

A senior French government official is set to head the board of a new privatization fund that will be established to speed up sales of Greek state assets, a French Finance Ministry official said on Tuesday.

Under the 86-billion-euro bailout Greece agreed last year with its eurozone partners and the International Monetary Fund, Athens must set up the fund and appoint a five-member supervisory board to oversee it.

Greece’s creditors will nominate two members of the board, Athens the remaining three. Both sides have veto rights.

Kathimerini earlier on Tuesday reported that Greece and its lenders had agreed that France’s Jacques Le Pape would lead the supervisory board.

“Yes, we can confirm (this information),” a spokeswoman for French Finance Minister Michel Sapin later said.

A Greek government official told Reuters no final decision had been made but did not deny that Le Pape had been picked by the lenders.

Le Pape is general inspector of finances for the Paris area and was previously general and corporate secretary for Air France KLM.